Image via Paramount.

One of the great features from recent BlobFests of recent years has been the Short Film Contest named the Shorties, in honor of Blob director Irvin “Shorty” Yeaworth.

It is looking as if this year is no exception as the folks at the Colonial Theatre have announced the opening up of the 2023 edition of the Shorties.

You can find all the info over at the Colonial’s website or on their Facebook page for BlobFest, but there is in one interesting thing about this year’s competition – All entries must have somewhere in them a meteorite, similar to the one that brought our blobby friend to Earth. It is always a treat to see the ingenuity and wit on display in the short film contest, so it should be fun to see how contestants incorporate the prop into their entries.

This year’s BlobFest is July through the 16th in Phoenixville, PA.

OK, it certainly isn’t as good as the original The Blob (And what really is?), but let’s give it up for Beware! The Blob! which oozed its way into theaters 50 years ago today.

Are you ready for the strangest visitor the world has ever had?

That’s what the folks behind The Man From Planet X claimed their titular alien visitor was when they were ballyhooing the film back in 1951. And now is your chance to find out if that is true as the film will be the second film on BlobFest Sunday’s The Blob double feature.

Honestly, I don’t know much about it as I have not seen it yet, but I am looking forward to finally catching at BlobFest.

Image via Paramount.

One of the great things about BlobFest is not only getting to see The Blob ooze its way across the big screen, but getting to see some other 1950s classic science-fiction films as well, as part of the Fest’s Saturday and Sunday double feature screenings.

The folks at BlobFest have just announced the first of those double feature pairings – producer George Pal’s 1953 classic War Of The Worlds!

Adapted from the HG Wells novel of the same name, The War Of The Worlds was one of producer Pal’s biggest hits. Starring Gene Barry as Dr. Clayton Forrester (Now where have we Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans heard that name before?) as a scientist who races to find a way to stop the seemingly unstoppable alien invaders from Mars! This film is one of the keystone science-fiction films of the decade and you really don’t want t miss seeing it on the big screen right after The Blob!

Remember, BlobFest tickets go on sale on May 27.

Well, if you’re planning on going to BlobFest at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, PA this summer, you’ll of course need to know when to get your tickets for the event. And thankfully, the folks at the Colonial have just made that announcement.

Tickets will be going on sale for the event on May 26 for Colonial Theatre members and on May 27 for the rest of the general public.

While the Colonial has confirmed that the Fest will include the traditional Friday Night Runout Event and the Saturday Street Vendors, Fire Extinguisher Parade and Tin Foil Hat Competition, it has yet to confirm any of the second features that will be part of the traditional science-fiction double feature screenings alongside The Blob. But, if I were to guess by this year’s title “The Uninvited” and a glance at the poster that the Colonial released, I would expect a couple of films involving unwelcome visitors, and in particular, George Pal’s 1953 classic War Of The Worlds.

After two years of COVID-forced virtual celebrations, the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville has announced that their 2022 BlobFest celebration will be an in person event this year. The even will be on the traditional second weekend in July, the 8th through the 10th.

From the Colonial’s website –

For the 23rd consecutive year, Blobfest® will return LIVE and in person to the iconic Colonial Theatre! The annual signature event is a festival commemorating the Colonial’s place in cinematic history as a filming location for the 1958 classic film – and all things sci-fi horror. Blobfest 2022 continues the tradition and will be held July 8-10, 2022. After two years of virtual ‘At Home’ editions, the 2022 Blobfest will include in-person double features, street festival, and beloved re-enactment of the film’s ‘Run Out’ scene.

Tune your frequency to our social media feeds and website for the shocking reveal of film selections, special guests, street-fair details, and contests, as well as surprise NEW elements sure to delight.

Tickets for Blobfest® 2022: The Uninvited go on sale May 26, 2022 at 10:00 AM for Colonial Theatre Members and VIP ticketholders from the two prior years of Blobfest®. The public on-sale occurs May 27, 2022 at 10:00 AM.



I have to admit that while the Colonial staff has done Herculean work in translating the BlobFest experience to online as we all have stayed home, it will be great to get back to Bridge Street and an in person celebration of The Blob.

The Blob will be oozing its way onto the Turner Classic Movies later this month as part of the cable channel’s month long “Out of This World: A Celebration of Sci-Fi Movies.”

The programming block will run every Tuesday evening, beginning tomorrow July 2. The Blob is set to air the night of July 16/early morning of the 17th as part of a group of films celebrating “Moon Movies/Creature Features.”

Taking a look at the lineup for the programming block, TCM has some great classics alongside our favorite Blobby star, so you really can’t go wrong with checking out any of the films in this lineup.

TCM’s Out of This World: Celebration of Sci-Fi Movies schedule is as follows –

July 2 — Early Sci-Fi

Metropolis (1927)

A Trip to the Moon (1902)

Woman in the Moon (1929)

Things to Come (1936)

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)

July 9 — The 1950s

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

The War of the Worlds (1953)

Forbidden Planet (1956)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

It Came From Outer Space (1953)

The Thing From Another World (1951)

Earth V. the Flying Saucers (1956)

July 16-17 — Moon Movies/Creature Features

Destination Moon (1950)

For All Mankind (1989)

Countdown (1968)

From the Earth to the Moon (1958)

First Men in the Moon (1964)

A Trip to the Moon (1902)

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)

Them! (1964)

The Blob (1958)

The Fly (1958)

July 23 — The 1960s

The Time Machine (1960)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Five Million Years to the Earth (1968)

Marooned (1969)

12 to the Moon (1960)

Village of the Dammed (1960)

July 30 — 70s and 80s

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Stars Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (1977)

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Solaris (1972)

Logan’s Run (1976)

Westworld (1973)

2010 (1984)

Want to parade up and down Bridge Street in front of the Colonial Theatre this Blob Fest but you don’t have a fire extinguisher? Well, if you have a pet, the BlobFest folks have a surprise for you. This year there will be a pet parade!

Sponsored by the folks at Maddies Castle Pet Boutique, the parade will have prizes for scariest, funniest and of course, most Blob-like.

Participants are being asked to report to the assembly area under the Gay Street Bridge at 1:45 pm the Saturday of BlobFest. The parade will begin at 2 with judging happening at 2:30 on the BlobFest Stage on Bridge Street.

Don’t forget that after the Friday Night runout at BlobFest, there is the Blob Ball – a great rockabilly dance where you can cut a rug late into the evening to the live sounds of the Ultra Kings. So if you’re a swing dancer or just like some good music, you may want to check it out. (I’ll be there, so don’t be afraid to ask me for a dance!)

Tickets for the dance have gone on sale and can be purchased here. You don’t have to dress up like the 1950s, but it doesn’t hurt.

Yesterday, the fine folks at BlobFest announced the companion features to this year’s screening of The Blob at the Colonial Theater and they are some real super doozies.

The first is the 1953 classic It Came From Outer Space. Based on a short story by grandmaster Ray Bradbury, the film focuses on an astronomer and his fiancee who witness a flying saucer crash, but when they try and report it, no one will believe them. Needless to say, once some mysterious things begin happening around town, people begin to rethink what they believe about what our heroes saw. The Colonial will also be screening the Vincent Price classic House Of Wax in its new second theater! And if that’s not enough Vincent Price for you, the second half of the Saturday evening double feature will be another spooky gem from the iconic horror actor – The House On Haunted Hill.

(Note – Although House Of Wax is arguably one of the most famous 3D films from the 1950s, its BlobFest presentation will be in 2D. It Came From Outer Space will be in 3D however.)

Rounding out the film schedule will be Sunday’s presentation of The Lost Skeleton Returns Again. If the title doesn’t sound familiar, The Lost Skeleton Returns Again is the 2009 sequel to 2001’s throwback The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra.

Trailers for all films are below.